C.J. Harris and Travis McKie were Wake Forest's representatives at the ACC's basketball media day in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE – C.J. Harris isn’t just the captain and leading scorer on the Wake Forest basketball team. Because of the collective youth of the Deacons this season, his duties also include playing the role of chauffeur and travel coordinator.

“The taxi service is still in full effect,” Harris said with a laugh Wednesday at the ACC’s Operation Basketball media day.

A 6-foot-3 guard, Harris is a popular figure among his Wake teammates because of his accomplishments on the court and his easy-going personality. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s one of only three current Deacons, along with junior Travis McKie and sophomore Chase Fischer, who has possession of a car.

Barely a day goes by without someone – usually one or more of the seven freshmen on the team – approaching Harris needing a ride to the mall, the movies or someplace to eat around Winston-Salem.

“Campus is completely isolated,” Harris said. “There’s a couple of restaurants, but after awhile that gets old so you have to get off campus sometimes. So it’s either I drive them around or I let them have my car. I just let them have it sometimes.”

Harris has only two rules when it comes to lending out his 2002 Jeep.

C.J. Harris is famous for his driving ... both on the court and behind the wheel

No. 1 is to bring the car back in one piece. No. 2 is to leave at least as much gas in the tank as there was when it was borrowed.

The latter is, apparently, a concept freshman forward Aaron Roundtree has still yet to figure out.

At least, that’s the way it seemed after an incident a few weeks ago when Roundtree borrowed the Jeep to show a prospective recruit around town.

“He got stuck at a hotel because he ran out of gas,” Harris said shaking his head. “Ran out of gas in my car. And he called Travis to come get him. I didn’t hear about it until the next week. They were talking about it and I was like ‘my car?’”

McKie, sitting on the other side of the table, chuckled when he was asked about the incident. He said the incident is the reason he isn’t as generous with the keys of his 1999 Jeep as is Harris is with his car.

“Roundtree had a recruit and his gas gauge was on ‘E,’” McKie said. “He passed five gas stations and took the recruit back to the hotel. Then he called me because C.J.’s car wouldn’t start. So I had to go get him. C.J. is still mad about it to this day.”

Not really, but it makes for a good story.

And besides, McKie’s rescue made for a useful team-building experience – not that he’s anxious to have to do it again anytime soon.

“They need to learn how to get a real taxi instead of relying on me and C.J,” McKie said.

Before that can happen, Harris is going to have to learn how to just say no when a freshman comes asking for his car — as McKie noted Tuesday.

“We had to drive up here in my car,” McKie said, “because they have his.”